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Abstract
Numerous foods, plants, and their bioactive constituents (BACs), named nutraceuticals and phytochemicals by experts, have shown many beneficial effects including antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiulcer, anti-cholesterol, hypoglycemic, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant activities. Producers, consumers, and the market of food- and plant-related compounds are increasingly attracted by health-promoting foods and plants, thus requiring a wider and more fruitful exploitation of the healthy properties of their BACs. The demand for new BACs and for the development of novel functional foods and BACs-based food additives is pressing from various sectors. Unfortunately, low stability, poor water solubility, opsonization, and fast metabolism in vivo hinder the effective exploitation of the potential of BACs. To overcome these issues, researchers have engineered nanomaterials, obtaining food-grade delivery systems, and edible food- and plant-related nanoparticles (NPs) acting as color, flavor, and preservative additives and natural therapeutics. Here, we have reviewed the nanotechnological transformations of several BACs implemented to increase their bioavailability, to mask any unpleasant taste and flavors, to be included as active ingredients in food or food packaging, to improve food appearance, quality, and resistance to deterioration due to storage. The pending issue regarding the possible toxic effect of NPs, whose knowledge is still limited, has also been discussed.
Highlights
Consumers’ preferences toward health foods, as well as awareness of the existence of phytochemicals in plants, with health properties, are increasingly expanding and encompass both the food market and the natural compounds sector
This is the case with Essential Oils (EOs) and of their constituents, but their intrinsic low stability, water-insolubility, and poor bioavailability limit their effectiveness in vivo
About NPs Application in Food: The Possible Toxicity of Ingesting NPs. Another question to solve is the need to have an ever-wider knowledge on the effect that the NPs-based bioactive constituents (BACs), food, and additives could have on human health when ingested and on the environment if scattered around
Summary
Consumers’ preferences toward health foods, as well as awareness of the existence of phytochemicals in plants, with health properties, are increasingly expanding and encompass both the food market and the natural compounds sector. Most food-related BACs have been isolated from vegetables, herbs, fruits, legumes, oils, spices, nuts, and whole grains and like several phytochemicals have. Terpenoids are one of the largest groups of natural products, mainly extracted from plants, which account for more than 40,000 compounds, but new compounds are discovered incessantly every year They possess anticancer effects against several tumors, including breast, mammary, skin, lung, forestomach, colon, pancreatic, and prostate carcinomas. Terpenoids, which are found mainly in spices and di- and trifor improving their water dispersibility, requiring very high concentrations of surfactants, which can promote unpleasant side effects such as GIT irrit5aot5ifo54fn4o4f4[4440,41] To address these issues, nanotechnology extensively operates to improve BACs’ solubility, absorption, and bioavailability by developing efficient solubilizing methods at low manufacturing costs, which minimize or even avoid the use of harmful excipients, solvents, co-solvents, BfoABfCABsCA, sCt,hste,hitrehisreoisruosrucoreucsre,csne,usn,turnitutriitotriniotainolanfluafnlucfnuticnoticnotsinoasnneasdmnadenusdeltsaseitbfiasltbieaslrhbissle,hidsoehdrheeodhatehlhatehelatyrhltyaphdrypodrpoiertpiorvetpireetssire..tsiNe. sa. High water solubility was achieved using cyclodextrins [54,55], pectin, and polyester-based dendrimers [56]
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